Ship construction



M. L. LITTLE.

SHIP CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20. 1920.

Patented Mar. 22, 1921.

I N v E NIOR Mryllzff/e;

UNITED STA'IIEM MARY L. LITTLE, OF LONGBEACH, CALIFORNIA.

SHIP CONSTRUCTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 22, 1921.

Application filed November 20, 1920. Serial No. 425,313.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, MARY L. LITTLE, a citizen of the United. States, residing at Long Beach, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Ship Construc tions, of which the following is a specification.

This invention particularly pertains to the construction of the bulls of ships and the object thereof is to provide a ship of the nonsinkable type or one which cannot be sunk by any of the ordinary accidents of the open sea, such as those due to collision with icebergs, derelicts, or some other ship.

Another object is to provide a cellular construction for the shells of ships bulls in which the walls of the cells are so formed and arranged that they will oppose penetration of the hull with gradually increasing resistance thereby acting to cushion the shock of collision, and also serve to confine injury to an'area close to the actual point of contact and lessen the possibility of a relatively large area of the hull being stove in. i

A further object is to provide a shell con struction for ships hulls which willincrease buoyancy and which will assist in maintaining a vessel afloat in event large portions of the hull should be opened or torn away.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a view in section showing a portion of a ship hull constructed in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a view of a fragmentary portion of the cellular shell as seen in side elevation with parts broken away.

Fig. 3 is a view in horizontal section as seen on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a view in vertical section showing the manner of forming the shell. of metal plates.

Fig. 5 is a detail in section illustrating a modified form of the arrangement of the cells.

In carrying out my invention, I employ a series of layers of cells which cover the hull portion of the ship in whole or in part and may constitute the shell of the bull or may be applied as a facing for hulls of ordinary construction. I am aware that ships have been constructed with numerous water tight compartments arranged in various mannersthroughout the hull or portions thereof and that the outer shell of a hull has been formed with a layer of small air and water tight compartments which might be considered as constituting cells, and therefore my invention does not reside in such construction, but consists in a particular manner of arranging the cells in layers on the outer face of the hull asiwill now be described. r i

Referrin to the drawings more specifically, 5 in icates the inner wall or skin of the cellular formation which may constitute the inner wall of the hull or may be applied to the outer face of an ordinary hull, and 6 designates the outer wall or skin which is spaced from the inner skin any suitable distance. Interposed between the inner and outer skins are a series of partitions 7 and 8 of any suitable number and here shown by way of example as comprising a pair of partitions which divide the space between the skins 5 and 6 into three compartments. Extending between the inner skin 5 and the partition 7 is a seriesof verticalwalls 9 and a series of transverse or horizontal walls 10 1 which form the inner space into a series of rectangular cells 11 of comparatively small area. Extending between the partitions 7 and 8 are a series of vertical walls 12 and horizontal walls 13 which are spaced apart a distance greater than the spacing between the walls 9 and 10 and form. cells 1 1 havin areas greater than that of the cells 11. K series of vertical walls 15 and horizontal walls 16 extend between the partition 8 and the outer skin 6 forming cells 17 of a size larger than the cells 1 1.

The partition 7 is preferably spaced from the inner skin 5 a distance less than the space between the partitions 7 and 8, so that the inner cells 11 will be narrower than the cells 14: and the space between the partition 8 and the outer skin 6 is greater than that between the partitions 7 and 8, so that the outer cells 17 will be wider than the cells 14, as particularly shown in Fig. 4;. The hull will thus be formed with a series of layers of cells with the cells in successive layers progressing outwardly increasing in surface area and in vertical, horizontal, and transverse widths and thereby forming the cells of successive layers of gradually increasing cubic content.

If desired, the cells may be of uniform size throughout each layer, as shown in Fig.

1, but in some instances it may be desirable to gradually increase the superimposed rows of cells progressively downward toward the keel of the vessel, as illustrated in F ig. 5. The several walls and partitions of the structure may be built of any suitable material and in any desired manner, for example, it may be formed of a plastic material or composition and molded in suitable forms, or it may be composed of sheet metal or of wood as occasion may require.

In forming the successive layers of cells, the cross vertical and horizontal walls bounding one layer of cells are preferably offset in relation to the cross walls bounding the adjacent layer, so that the cross walls will not be alined or continuous between the outer skin 6 and the inner skin 5.

By thus constructing a cellular exterior for ship hulls, the hull may be rendered of such buoyancy as to maintain the vessel afloat even though large portions of the hull be torn away and the possibility of the hull being stove in reduced to a minimum, as in event of collision the outer skin 6 will receive the impact and initially oppose penetration of the hull and the succeeding partitions will successively oppose further penetration, thus affording a gradually increasing resistance to a body and cushioning the force of the impact on the hull as a whole. The cross partitions being offset or staggered lessen the possibility of large areas of the hull being stove in when the point of impact is restricted to a comparatively small area.

I claim:

1. In a ship construction, a hull section comprising an inner skin, an outer skin, a

series of partitions separating the space between the skins into a plurality of compartments, and a series of walls separating said compartments into a plurality of: superimposed cells, the cells of adjacent compartments increasing in size progressively from I the innermost to the outermost compartment.

2. In a ship construction, a hull section comprising an inner skin, an outer skin, a series of partitions separating the space be tween the skins intoa plurality of compartments, a series of walls separating said compartments into a plurality of superimposed cells, the cells of adjacent compartments increasing in size progressively from the innermost to the outermost compartment, the walls forming the cells in one compartment being offset in relation to the walls of the cells in the adjacent compartment.

3. In aship construction, a hull section comprising an inner skin, an outer skin, a series of partitions separating the space hctween the skins into a plurality of compartments, a series of walls separating said compartments into a plurality of superimposed cells, the cells of adjacent compartments increasing in size progressively from the innermost to the outermost compartment, the superimposed cells of each compartment increasing in size in downward progression.

4. In a ship construction, a hull structure comprising an inner skin, an outer skin, a series of partitions between said skins, a series of walls forming cells in the spaces formed by said partitions, the walls on one side of a partition being offset in relation to the walls on the other side thereof.

MARY L. LITTLE. 

